In education about climate issues teachers make choices. What is of most importance? To know how the green house effect works in a natural scientific way or to know about the political processes that can help us find a solution? Habits, or selective traditions, answers the questions why, what and how does teachers do when teaching about climate issues.  In this study selective traditions are investigated.The purpose of this study is to investigate and identify selective traditions among the Swedish geography teachers when it comes to teaching about global warming. A discussion about the implications of the selective traditions for the education from a pragmatic perspective, inspired by John Dewey in his work: “Democracy and Education is also included.The empiricism of the study consists of interviews where teachers tell about their ways of teaching about climate issues. The result is presented in the form of selective traditions. The study identifies three separate didactic typologies in teaching about climate issues. The natural science typology tradition which focuses on facts, the normative which focuses on changing the student’s attitudes and the pluralistic which focuses on the student’s democratic development. All three have different implications in a pragmatic perspective. These three didactic typologies have different implications for the democratic dimension in education. Typology 1 does not encourage the student to take part in debates about climate change. Instead the student only receives natural science facts. In Typology 2 it is the teacher or some other ruler who decides what attitudes to adapt. But in Typology 3 the student is encouraged to, and gets the opportunity to develop his- or hers own attitudes.

This thesis, Space, Curriculum Space and Morality, focuses on the two roles of the school, i.e. developing identities and transmitting knowledge. The latest curriculum reform commissions the teachers to transform the fundamental values of the curriculum to the separate subjects. The principal object of the school subjects is to contribute to the implementation of the curriculum goals, namely to educate and promote democratic citizens. Since the new course syllabi lack guidelines about subject content and method, the intention of this work it is to analyse in what way the teachers’ fill this curriculum space, which subject content the teachers choose in order to connect the curriculum goals to the course syllabi goals and, to the practical teaching of geography as a school subject. The understanding of the teachers’ choice of subject content is the overall aim of this thesis. The thesis can be placed within a curriculum theory tradition that regards education and its content as situated in a field of tension ultimately determined by social and political forces engaged in struggle. Within this tradition, an approach has been developed which examines the educational content of the school subjects as contingent. A curriculum historical analysis – supplemented by a text analysis of textbooks, a number of observations (81) of geography lessons in upper secondary school and the following qualitative interviews with geography teachers – shows that the teachers’ choice of content can be understood and explained by the strong selective traditions which have formed within the subject during 150 years. These selective traditions together form a school subject discourse which implies that the moral dimension is lost as the subject content is characterized by an essentialistic approach. The consequences of the findings can be discussed in relation to what content is excluded in the school geography education. Some examples are a gender perspective, issues regarding equality, ethnicity, solidarity, social justice and sustainable development. The issues that the school geography excludes contain ethical and moral considerations. If these issues were presented, they would relate to the fundamental values and the promotion of democracy, issues given strong prominence in the curriculum.

This thesis deals with the use of inquiry-based approaches in primary school science. The aim is to investigate the goals and purposes that are constituted by the curriculum and by the teachers in interviews and through their teaching in the classroom. The results are used to develop conceptual tools that can be used by teachers’ in their work to support students’ learning of science when using an inquiry-based approach. The thesis is comprised of four papers. In paper one a comparative analysis is made of five Swedish national curricula for compulsory school regarding what students should learn about scientific inquiry. In paper two 20 teachers were interviewed about their own teaching using inquiry. Classroom interactions were filmed and analyzed in papers three and four, which examine how primary teachers use the various activities and purposes of the inquiry classroom to support learning progressions in science. The results of paper one show how the emphasis within and between the two goals of learning to carry out investigations and learning about the nature of science shifted and changed over time in the different curricula. Paper two describes the selective traditions and qualities that were emphasized in the teachers’ accounts of their own teaching. The results of papers three and four show how students need to be involved in the proximate and ultimate purposes of the teaching activities for progression to happen. The ultimate purposes are the scientific purposes for the lesson (as given by the teacher or by the curriculum), whereas the proximate purposes are the more student-centered purposes that through different activities should allow the students to relate their own experiences and language to the ultimate purpose. The results show the importance of proximate purposes working as ends-in-view in the sense of John Dewey, meaning that the students see the goal of the activity and that they are able to relate to their experiences and familiar language. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: In press. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis deals with the use of inquiry-based approaches in primary school science. The aim is to investigate the goals and purposes that are constituted by the curriculum and by the teachers in interviews and through their teaching in the classroom. The results are used to develop conceptual tools that can be used by teachers’ in their work to support students’ learning of science when using an inquiry-based approach. The thesis is comprised of four papers. In paper one a comparative analysis is made of five Swedish national curricula for compulsory school regarding what students should learn about scientific inquiry. In paper two 20 teachers were interviewed about their own teaching using inquiry. Classroom interactions were filmed and analyzed in papers three and four, which examine how primary teachers use the various activities and purposes of the inquiry classroom to support learning progressions in science. The results of paper one show how the emphasis within and between the two goals of learning to carry out investigations and learning about the nature of science shifted and changed over time in the different curricula. Paper two describes the selective traditions and qualities that were emphasized in the teachers’ accounts of their own teaching. The results of papers three and four show how students need to be involved in the proximate and ultimate purposes of the teaching activities for progression to happen. The ultimate purposes are the scientific purposes for the lesson (as given by the teacher or by the curriculum), whereas the proximate purposes are the more student-centered purposes that through different activities should allow the students to relate their own experiences and language to the ultimate purpose. The results show the importance of proximate purposes working as ends-in-viewin the sense of John Dewey, meaning that the students see the goal of the activity and that they are able to relate to their experiences and familiar language. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: In press. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Biological evolution is part of the syllabi for Biology and Science in Swedish upper secondary school. In the syllabi, evolution is not only presented as a topic in Biology courses, but is also regarded as a unifying theme. The teacher has a fundamental role in deciding how the national curriculum is translated into the educational situation. This thesis investigates teachers’ accounts of their teaching of evolution in Swedish upper secondary school, describing their understandings of the purpose of teaching and learning evolution as part of biology education. The thesis is based on interviews of teachers teaching the course Biology A, which is compulsory as dictated by the Natural Science Program. The interviews were supplemented with questionnaires. The interviews were orientated towards questions about selection of course content and the reasons for choosing this content. The interviews were focused on teachers experiences based on their own practice. Two aspects of content were examined: (1) the scientific content taught in terms of themes and (2) the socializing value-laden aspects, such as priorities taken by the teachers and the teachers´ overarching aims.   The results showed that teachers described different teaching contents with regard to values, even when the core content of themes was similar. Four different selective traditions for choosing content were identified among teachers. The results are discussed in relation to the context and conditions that the teachers identify as influential on the content chosen. Teachers’ interactions with their students as well as their world views are important for their selection and adjustment of content. There are also indications that teachers’ personal views about purposes are important for selecting the teaching content.

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om vilka förmågor och kunskaper som grundskollärare inom SO-ämnena anser är viktiga att främja genom undervisning för hållbar utveckling, i år 4–6. Syftet är vidare att belysa hur de beskriver att deras undervisning skapar möjlighet för eleverna att utveckla dessa kunskaper och förmågor. Det ingår i skolans uppdrag att förmedla kunskap och respekt för vår gemensamma miljö. Forskning som berör hållbar utveckling och undervisning i skolan har historiskt sett främst genomförts med inriktning på förskolan, grundskolans senare år och gymnasiet. Inom årskurs 4–6 är forskningen begränsad, vilket är en anledning till att denna studie genomförts. De tre selektiva miljöundervisningstraditionerna; den faktabaserade, den normerande och den pluralistiska används som ett teoretiskt ramverk för denna studie. Genom en kvalitativ undersökning i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer av sju behöriga SO-lärare i årskurs 4–6 besvarade studiens tre forskningsfrågor. En tematisk analys genomfördes på det insamlade materialet och resulterade i tio teman som sorterades in under överrubriker. Resultatet visade att faktakunskaper, medvetenhet, framtidstro och en förhoppning om att så ett frö för framtiden är något som lärarna vill ett deras elever ska få med sig. Att utgå från samtal, diskussioner och temaarbeten var metoder som ansågs kunna möjliggöra att eleverna får med det som lärarna anser viktigt. Elevers värderingar, tidsbrist och anpassning av innehåll utifrån elevernas ålder ansågs försvåra undervisningen. Trots dessa svårigheter är detta ett ämne som engagerar många elever, vilket ses som en möjlighet i undervisning för hållbar utveckling. Slutligen konstateras att de slutsatser som dras i forskning för hållbar utveckling inte alltid verkar överensstämma med läroplanens innehåll vilket i förlängningen påverkar både undervisningen och vad eleverna får med sig från undervisning för hållbar utveckling. / The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge about which abilities and knowledge social science teachers in primary school consider important to promote through teaching for sustainable development, in grades 4–6. The purpose is further to highlight how they describe that their teaching creates opportunities for students to develop these skills and abilities. One way to enable action is through education. It is also part of the school's mission to convey knowledge and respect for our common environment. Historically speaking, research concerning sustainable development and teaching in schools has mainly been focused on pre-school, the later years of compulsory school and upper secondary school. Within grades 4-6, research is limited and that is one reason that lies behind this study. The three selective environmental education traditions; the fact-based, the normative and the pluralistic were used as a theoretical framework for this study. Through a qualitative investigation in the form of semi-structured interviews of seven qualified social science teachers in grades 4-6 from four different municipalities, the study's three research questions were answered. A thematic analysis was carried out on the collected material and resulted in ten themes. The themes were sorted under three headings. The result showed that factual knowledge, awareness, faith in the future and a hope to plant a seed for the future are some things that the teachers want their students to develop. Conversations, discussions and theme work were methods considered to enable the students to develop what the teachers considered important. Pupils' values, lack of time and adaptation of content based on the pupils' age were considered challenges. Despite these challenges, sustainable development engages many students, which can be seen as an opportunity in teaching for sustainable development. Finally, it is stated that conclusions drawn in research for sustainable development do not always seem to correspond with the content of the curriculum. Which in the long run affects both how teachers chose to teach for sustainable development and what students learn from it.

Biological evolution is part of the syllabi for Biology and Science in Swedish upper secondary school. In the syllabi, evolution is not only presented as a topic in Biology courses, but is also regarded as a unifying theme. The teacher has a fundamental role in deciding how the national curriculum is translated into the educational situation. This thesis investigates teachers’ accounts of their teaching of evolution in Swedish upper secondary school, describing their understandings of the purpose of teaching and learning evolution as part of biology education. The thesis is based on interviews of teachers teaching the course Biology A, which is compulsory as dictated by the Natural Science Program. The interviews were supplemented with questionnaires. The interviews were orientated towards questions about selection of course content and the reasons for choosing this content. The interviews were focused on teachers experiences based on their own practice. Two aspects of content were examined: (1) the scientific content taught in terms of themes and (2) the socializing value-laden aspects, such as priorities taken by the teachers and the teachers´ overarching aims.   The results showed that teachers described different teaching contents with regard to values, even when the core content of themes was similar. Four different selective traditions for choosing content were identified among teachers. The results are discussed in relation to the context and conditions that the teachers identify as influential on the content chosen. Teachers’ interactions with their students as well as their world views are important for their selection and adjustment of content. There are also indications that teachers’ personal views about purposes are important for selecting the teaching content.

Environmental concerns and climate change strengthens the need of education for sustainable development. We have both acknowledged a need of more research aimed towards teachers in Swedish primary schools. Therefore, the ambition for this study is to contribute with more knowledge about sustainable development in primary schools with an emphasis on science education. In this qualitative study we interview teachers working in pre-school class and primary school years 1-3 about what they think pupils should learn in education for sustainable development, as well as what their practical approaches are to the subject and what the didactical challenges are. We used semi-structured interviews to interview six teachers from three different schools in a Swedish city. The collected data is analyzed and presented using a thematic analysis and the research questions that are based on the aim for this study. The results of the study are then put in relation to our theoretical perspectives, which are “the three selective traditions in environmental and sustainability education” and “individual and collective responsibility”, to draw conclusions. On this basis we reach the conclusion that teachers want to make it possible for their pupils to make change and that the most important thing in teaching is to make it concrete and close to everyday life. The challenges that the teachers face is that the subject is unprioritized, that there is a lack of didactical material, a need of personal engagement and that the subject is rather complex. Based on our selective traditions we draw further conclusions. Traces of all three selective traditions are visible in the school and in the individual teachers’ teaching. Furthermore, some teachers express that the aim for their education is linked to one tradition, but their actual method is another.